Samsung, All Def Digital & Universal Music Group Partner for ADD52 Platform

Samsung, fresh off announcing its new Milk Music service, has partnered with some of music’s most powerful entities to introduce a new platform for artists. Russell Simmons and Steve Rifkind, along with the Universal Music Group, have joined forces to introduce the innovative ADD52 concept which uses emerging technology to tailor sounds for each listener.

Simmons and Rifkind, co-founders of All Def Digital (ADD) and All Def Music, made the announcement today from the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas earlier today. In brief, ADD52’s main objective is to give focused attention to rising unsigned artists by premiering a new track and video for a consecutive 52 weeks.

Using algorithm technology developed by Narrative_, a company co-founded by Tricia Clarke-Stone and Simmons, these artists will gain traction based on a series of data including views, watch times and other markers.

“For artists, it’s the place to be discovered. For music lovers, it’s the place to discover,” explains Mr. Simmons.

ADD52 will work in conjunction with the newly-launched Milk Music program from Samsung. In fact, ADD52 will have its own dedicated channel on the streaming and digital network and aims to work seamlessly across all of Samsung’s mobile devices and channels.

“At Samsung we’re about introducing The Next Big Thing and together with ADD52 we’re giving emerging artists the platform to launch their careers,” said Todd Pendleton, chief marketing officer for Samsung Telecommunications America. “Milk is all about discovering new music and the music you already love and now it will give up-and-coming artists an incredible opportunity to be heard by millions.”

Getting heard or seen on ADD52 just isn’t about exposure, as some select acts will earn production budgets to shoot videos, gain access to some of the industry’s best studios and also tips from industry insiders as their careers grow.

“This type of artist empowerment marks huge progress for the music industry,” Rifkind said. “The artists will be featured on multiple platforms including Samsung’s new Milk radio service, ADD52 TV show hosted by DJ Skee as well as music for the HoopMixtape franchise, which collectively have viewership in the millions.”

ADD52’s station is live on Milk Music. To download Milk Music for your Samsung device, click here.